Introduction

Hi and welcome to my site.Cheshire is full of weird and wonderful stories of the supernatural, local heores and the mysterious.I will take you on a tour as I look deep into the Cheshire that lies underneath the wonderful countryside and find the secrets that still hide there.What magic and long lost secrets will we find?So, sit back and enjoy my journey. This is a land of Magic, Knights, Dragons, Wizards, Witches, Boggarts, Murder, Ghosts and Old Forgotten Knowledge.

I would love to hear your stories as well. So if you have anything you would like me to look into and find information out, please let me know.

Friday, 10 October 2008

The Headlless Woman, Duddon, Nr Tarporley.

This is not a tale of just Grace Trigg. But I have found two headless woman who roam this area.Both ladies are from the same time period - Civil War (1643 - 1644).The second lady is Dorothy. I beleive both of their stories have over time been mixed up and poor Dorothy has been forgotton.

Dorothy's story.

Dorothy was accidentally decapitated by her father as he tried to save her from a group of drunken roundheads in the village of Duddon. Her headless body is said to roam aimlessly around the village and even roams upto The Headless Woman pub. So is Dorothy seen in the pub and not Grace.

Grace Triggs story.

Grace Trigg was either a maid or a family member of Squire Joseph Hockenhall at Hockenhall Hall, Tarporley.The Squire( a Royalist) had been warned that a patrol of Roundheads were on their way to arrest him, so he fled with his wife, children and most of his servants after hiding his families treasure.He left Grace to look after the hall, thinking as a woman she would not be harmed.But Grace was attacked and she tried to escape. She fled down to what is now called The Roman Bridges. These three bridges are on a footpath by the hall. It is said that it was on the middle bridge that Grace was attacked again. She was beaten and kicked cause she would not tell them where the Squire, his family and the treasure was. Her head was chopped off and her body was thrown into the stream. It is said that her body was carried off by one of the soliders.Her body was found months or even a few years later and because nobody could tell who this body was, she was buried without a proper buriel and that is why she still walks the area. She is seen with and without her head but could be where the two tales are mixed up.

Why did she head towards the bridges if she needed help. There is only the odd farm about and it would have been better to have headed towards town.Another version of this tale is that she had gone to the bridges, after the family had fled, to see her lover. She was a Royalist and he was a Roundhead. This romance had been found out and she had been murdered beacause of it.

In Tarvin, there is a house called The Tudar House. This black and white building is on the outskirts of the village. There is a ghost of a Calaviler solider (Royalist) who use to live in this building. He walks about this building and looks out of the windows. His name is said to be Charles, late 30s to early 40s.This man had been Graces's bodyguard at the hall. But could have also been a cousion or uncle. A canonball flew through the window and killed him when he shouldn't have even been in the building, he should have been looking after Grace. It is said that the ghost of Grace watches this replay and smilies because he had failed to protect her.

So which lady is the true headless woman of Tarporley or could it be a mixture of both. Both ladies are from the same time and around the same age - mid to late 20's.

Its an interesting tale and if anyone has anymore information on this, please let me know.